The old Pace University campus at 235 Elm Road covers about 37 acres. It has been vacant for more than a decade, and its campus buildings are in varying states of decay. Until this summer it sat in the village's R-40B zoning district. On June 16, 2026, the Briarcliff Manor Board of Trustees adopted a new zoning district for large sites within walking distance of downtown and mapped it onto the campus. The board also gave preliminary approval to Rose Enterprises Group's plan, called Renaissance Briarcliff Manor, for 110 townhomes and five single-family lots along Tuttle Road. Dow Hall, one of the old campus buildings, now has more to do with when anything gets built there than the zoning vote does.
That vote was one of three approvals in 2026 that changed what Briarcliff Manor's next homes will look like. All three settle the type, count and location of the new housing. None of them sets a move-in date or a price.
Three projects at three different stages
| Project | Homes planned | Where it stands | Next required step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renaissance Briarcliff Manor, 235 Elm Road | 110 townhomes plus 5 single-family lots | New zoning adopted and preliminary approval granted June 16, 2026 | Final approval, which requires a signed Letter of Resolution with SHPO and NYSDEC before Dow Hall can be demolished |
| Briarhouse and Justice Center, 1030 and 1050 Pleasantville Road | 90 apartments, 9 of them affordable, plus up to 15,000 sq ft of commercial space | Zoning framework and environmental review adopted July 2026 | Site plan and other permits, plus a public hearing to declare village land surplus before closing |
| 1230 and 1238 Pleasantville Road | 14 two-bedroom apartments plus about 600 sq ft of retail | Planning Board site plan approval recorded May 14, 2026 | Not described in the approval |
The three projects share a policy basis. On June 2, 2026, the trustees adopted the village's updated Comprehensive Plan, which is meant to guide land use and future public investment in housing, transportation, parks and historic preservation. Two weeks later, the board's Elm Road resolution cited a Downtown Adjacent Zoning Study dated May 21, 2025. That study recommended zoning that would let large sites near the Central Business District hold "a mix of housing types and an appropriate range of residential densities" while keeping wooded buffers and improving pedestrian connections to downtown.
At 235 Elm Road, Dow Hall sets the schedule
The State Historic Preservation Office considered the campus eligible for both the state and national historic registers. It objected to demolition without further review and mitigation. The developer has maintained that preserving and reusing the main buildings isn't feasible because of their condition. The Planning Board's March 12, 2026 minutes record that consultation with SHPO was still ongoing at that point.
The trustees handled the conflict with a condition, written into their June 16, 2026 meeting minutes. Final approval that allows Dow Hall and the other historic campus buildings to come down depends on a Letter of Resolution signed by NYSDEC, SHPO and the applicant. Historic features must be documented and salvaged before demolition or site work begins. So the townhomes can't be built until that agreement is signed, and the date it's signed will set much of the construction timeline.
The trustees approved the zoning in June by a vote of all members present except Trustee Mallett, who abstained. The same minutes record that she called herself "excited about the application of a PUD" and said she "looked forward to housing within walking distance to the downtown." That position is now village policy. The open question is timing.
What a future Renaissance owner would be signing up for
If the townhomes are built, the approval record already describes much of what owning one would involve. Most of the obligations attach to the homeowners' association, so they show up in an HOA budget rather than on a listing sheet:
- Shared amenities. The approved concept includes a clubhouse, a pool, private internal roads and parking, publicly accessible open space and walking trails.
- Public paths on private land. The Planning Board said the walking paths must stay publicly accessible in perpetuity, with clear documentation and signs. It also discussed landscaped buffers that the homeowners' association would maintain.
- Infrastructure inspections. The June 16 resolution requires the HOA to submit an engineer's inspection report on the sanitary and storm sewer systems at least every three years. The report must also cover vegetative cover and any signs of erosion on the steep slopes.
- Unit mix. In November 2025, River Journal reported that the plan called for two- and three-bedroom townhomes after four-bedroom units were dropped.
The bedroom mix fits a point the applicant made in its January 20, 2026 comment-response memo, which said more than 84% of Briarcliff Manor's housing units have two or more bedrooms. Two- and three-bedroom townhomes would add homes of a familiar size in a different form: attached, maintained by an HOA, and close to downtown.
On Pleasantville Road, the village is the seller
Briarhouse works differently because the village owns the land. The two lots at 1030 and 1050 Pleasantville Road were described as village-owned and transferred to the Briarcliff Manor Local Development Corporation to support a public/private development agreement. Briarhouse, LLC would own and operate the apartments and commercial space. It would also build a Justice Center that the village would own.
The July 7, 2026 AKRF design memo describes two four-story mixed-use buildings on either side of a public plaza 60 feet wide and 150 feet deep. The plaza would have trees, a raised rear terrace and a water wall. Storefronts would be "highly transparent to support active retail uses, including restaurants and food establishments." The Justice Center is proposed at 14,286 square feet.
Because public land is involved, the steps before closing are spelled out. The minutes of the corporation's August 26, 2026 meeting, published in its September 22 agenda, list what was still needed:
- Surveys and property descriptions, so the Board of Trustees can hold a public hearing and declare the property surplus.
- Permanent easements covering public access to the plaza, the trails and other parts of the project.
- A construction agreement setting out construction duties and obligations after construction.
- A coordinated flow chart of submissions, approvals, legal documents and deadlines through closing, which the board asked for.
The same minutes say the full stormwater submission was expected in mid-September, with the remaining construction documents in early October. About $400,000 to $500,000 in qualifying project costs had been counted toward the developer's spending requirements. The village had also issued a request for proposals for an owner's representative. These are the steps that come before the village sells its land. The surplus hearing, when the trustees schedule it, will be the clearest public sign that Briarhouse is close to closing.
Why the county numbers make the wait matter
Briarcliff's new homes would join the condo and attached market that is moving fastest in Westchester. In OneKey MLS's Q3 2026 Westchester County report, with data as of October 7, 2026, these were the countywide figures:
| Westchester County, Q3 2026 | Median sale price | Change YoY | Inventory | Months of supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family | $1,189,000 | +10.0% | 956 homes, down 6.6% | 2.5 |
| Condos | $615,000 | +17.1% | 321 units, up 11.1% | 3.0 |
These are countywide numbers, not Briarcliff's. Still, they show the market the village's approvals will feed into. In Q3 2026 the county condo median rose faster than the single-family median, and condo inventory grew while single-family inventory shrank. A buyer waiting for Renaissance or Briarhouse is waiting for a segment that has been getting more expensive and more available at the same time. It is also a segment that isn't broken out by townhouse type, since OneKey's county report doesn't separate townhouses.
For a downsizer comparing villages, this changes how to plan. The approvals make walkable attached housing in Briarcliff a real future option, but each project still has its next step to clear, and no prices have been published. Anyone selling a Briarcliff house to move down can plan the sale around today's single-family market, where county supply was at 2.5 months in Q3 2026, and should treat the new projects as one option among several rather than a set move-in date.
Smaller changes on Pleasantville Road came first
Smaller downtown approvals went through earlier. At its April 9, 2026 meeting, the Planning Board approved a sign permit for Slave to the Grind, a coffee shop proposed at 1924 Pleasantville Road. It approved signage for Chocolate Chalet's move to a new space at 1207 Pleasantville Road. It approved a change of use and signage for Pure Barre in the former restaurant space at 1878 Pleasantville Road. And it approved splitting part of the dry-cleaner space at the Chilmark Shopping Center, 1856 Pleasantville Road, for a proposed bagel shop.
These approvals are on the same corridor where Briarhouse plans its plaza and storefronts, and where the 14 apartments at 1230 and 1238 Pleasantville Road won site plan approval in May.
Quick answers
Is the Pace campus redevelopment fully approved?
No. The zoning district was adopted and preliminary approval was granted on June 16, 2026. Final approval depends on conditions that include the signed Letter of Resolution with SHPO and NYSDEC.
Will Briarhouse include affordable units?
Yes. The July 2026 plan includes nine affordable units among its 90 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.
Where can I follow the next steps?
The village's Agenda Center posts Board of Trustees, Planning Board and Local Development Corporation agendas and minutes. That's where the surplus-land hearing and the final approvals will appear.
This post is general information about public approvals and isn't legal, tax or financial advice. If you're weighing an HOA community or a purchase contract, confirm the details of your own situation with an attorney or other qualified professional.
If you own in Briarcliff Manor and want to know how these approvals bear on your own timing, Aloia Stroub Team can show you where your home fits in the market buyers are pricing this season. Request a Free Home Valuation, and we'll go through it with you.
